Darren Helm, as his coach has said, puts the rest of the Detroit Red Wings' bottom-six forwards in place.

Now, Mike Babcock can rest easy. Helm, the third-line center, a top penalty-killer and one of the fastest players in the league, signed a four-year, $8.5 million contract with the Red Wings on Tuesday.

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The 25-year-old could've become a restricted free agent on July 1.

"It's definitely nice that they see me as a player that deserves that," Helm told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm very happy with this. It's nice to know where I'm going to be the next four years."

Helm (nine goals and 17 assists in 68 games last season) had surgery on a tendon in his right arm after he was hurt in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series against Nashville. The Red Wings lost in five games.

"Darren is an important part of our team and we're very happy that we've reached an agreement," general manager Ken Holland said. "He's one of the fastest skaters in the game and we love the physical element that he brings. He's an outstanding penalty killer and the ideal third-line center for us behind Pavel (Datsyuk) and Henrik (Zetterberg).

"We really missed him when he was out of the lineup in March and April."

Helm also missed the final 10 games of the regular season in 2012 after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee March 17 in a collision with San Jose's Dominic Moore. Helm returned for the playoffs but hurt himself again, just hours after Babcock said how important it was to have him back.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound forward is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of training camp in September.

Helm was drafted in the fifth round by Detroit in 2005. He had a career-high 12 goals and 32 points in 2010-11. He has 16 points in 65 career postseason games.

Now the Red Wings can turn their full attentions to some of higher-profile targets. Even with Helm in the fray, they project to have more than $24 million in cap space with 19 players currently on the roster, according to capgeek.com.

They've long been viewed as a top potential destination for winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter, the two best players on the free-agent market, and are also believed to be in the running for defenseman Justin Schultz, a top collegiate player who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.